The Safe Universe
A couple of days ago, Rick Stack, one of Jane Roberts’ original students in the ’70s, was lecturing online about the facts that each of us creates his or her reality and that the Universe is safe. Even after studying the Seth Material for over 30 years, I have had some doubts about the complete validity of these concepts, especially the latter, as have many other soul-journeyers. Rick was telling the story of how he came to have a startling experience of just how safe the Universe is. While going to a restaurant with other students after a Seth class, he had “accidentally” walked through a plate glass window of the eatery and had shattered it. He had sustained a couple of cuts that required just a few stitches; but most people, as you could imagine, might well have been very seriously injured, if not killed. The next week, when Rick went to class, Seth, speaking, of course, through Jane, told him that he (Rick) had created this incident so he could experience what Seth has always said: that this is a SAFE universe.
Atlanta, Georgia
This past Tuesday, when I was driving to the Atlanta airport after finishing a business gig, my GPS suddenly lost juice (ostensibly because, I found out later, the rental car socket for the charger wasn’t working properly); I found myself in the midst of six lanes of very heavy and seemingly dangerous traffic in the middle of Atlanta. I did not really know for sure where the airport was, but I hoped I was probably going in the right direction. Still, I have to say I could feel major panic starting to rise in my gut. Thankfully, instead of giving into my growing terror, I surprised myself, asking what else I had available. When I noticed my iPhone, I squeezed over to the shoulder and stopped–not always a good idea–clicked on my blinkers, and typed the address of the airport into the iPhone’s GPS. It was not going to be very efficient because of the small screen and my difficulty in looking at it while trying not to hit anyone. Then I called in the angels, big time, and told them I would stay on the main highway until I, hopefully, saw a sign for the airport. And, after 20 minutes, that was what happened. Then I realized that I needed to get gas or pay heavily for it at the rental place. But I realized that if I got off the main highway, I might not find my way back on. So, I resigned myself to paying $8.00 a gallon and just followed the signs to the rental center. When I got there, I told them what happened with the charger. Well, they did not charge for the gas, especially since, to my surprise, I had used only about 3 gallons!!
While it all worked out well, I had to ask why I had created this potentially dangerous situation. Even when it was going on, I had the sense that I was creating what happened because of my chronic fear of being away from home in an unknown place and having to depend on various technologies to guide me to my destinations on time. Moreover, before I left the rental car place, the attendant had warned me that the charging socket might not work in this kind of car, but I did not fully check out that possibility since the charger light was steadily on! But there was another level to my creation, as I found out when I suddenly remembered Rick’s story and realized that I had created my own dilemma to experience the very same thing: the safe Universe! The next day, though I was very tired from my trip, I felt better than I have felt in a couple of years, more energized, hopeful, grounded.
Barcelona, Spain
Reflecting on my experience in Atlanta reminded me of another, earlier incident, this one in Barcelona that had a less happy outcome. My wife and I were taking a cruise in the Western Mediterranean last October and decided to stay in Barcelona, the embarkation and disembarkation point, for a couple of days before the cruise. I was hesitant to stay in such a big city known for its pick-pocketing, but I did so to please my wife.
The first day went generally well, but it was evident to both my wife and me that my fear of being in strange places where I did not speak the language was at an all-time high; my fear adversely affected our fun as I nixed some of my wife’s ideas about leaving the relative safety of a bus tour to wander in sections of the city. Later, after preparing to go out to dinner, we walked to Rambles, a very busy, pedestrian section, and went into St. Joseph’s Market, full of brightly colored fruits, vegetables, candy, and meats. I began filming and taking pictures, while checking every minute or so for my wallet in my left front pocket.
Suddenly, I could not touch the wallet—it had been stolen without my feeling anything! I was outraged, shaken and scared as I realized that the wallet contained about $900.00 in cash, two blank checks, two credit cards, my medical cards, and my license. I could hardly contain my feelings of violation as my wife and I walked a long way to the police station to make a report. While there, I used a toll-free phone to cancel my credit cards. Later, when I got on the ship, I used a cell phone at great cost to contact my bank to cancel my checking account. After getting home 10 days later, I got a new license and had to make several calls to my medical insurance sites to get new cards. In short, restoring some of what I lost was a monumental hassle.
But more was going on beneath the obvious: very shortly after the theft, as I was walking to the police station, I struggled to avoid falling into victim consciousness. I pushed myself into owning that I had created this reality by drawing the pick-pocket to me though my strong, long-time fears of being robbed in a foreign country. As I kept reminding myself of Seth’s view that there are no accidents, no real victims, only manifestations of our own negative, limiting beliefs, I managed to prevent my slide into a deep, dark hole that would have ruined the rest of the trip. What helped me claim ownership of what happened was the realization that I had done something unusual before leaving the hotel: I had carried with me all those things I listed above as stolen, when, usually, I would bring to dinner only one credit card, perhaps my license, and only enough cash to cover the check; and I would have kept those things in a carrying case hanging from my neck inside my shirt. I was thus in a deep, ungrounding trance caused by my negative beliefs.
Yet, another, positive belief, that I could indeed prevent complete catastrophe, was also operating and prompted me to leave the rest of my money, my iPhone, and my passport back at the hotel. I had also “arranged” for the theft to happen when I was with my wife, who helped me settle down and retained her own credit cards. Moreover, these positive beliefs also allowed me to collect from our homeowner’s insurance almost half the cash I had lost, an opportunity I had not known was possible until my wife wondered about it.
Because of the Barcelona incident, I believe that I handled the Atlanta situation in a better way because I saw more quickly what was emerging from my negative beliefs and changed them by believing that I had more resources than I would have thought.
Truly believing that the Universe is safe is definitely NOT second nature to me; hence my creating, repeatedly, situations that offer opportunities to really, deeply tune into the notion. As Seth has said, embracing the notion that we create our own realities must be achieved on all levels, not just intellectually. While I firmly grasp the concept on an intellectual level, embracing it emotionally is much, much more of a challenge. Through the experiences in Atlanta and Barcelona, I did get something more of an emotional as well as an intellectual understanding of that seemingly elusive belief.
Fully embracing the notion that one creates ones reality has everything to do with acknowledging that the Universe is safe. When I am feeling that the Universe is unsafe, it is because I am viewing it though a complex of limiting, negative beliefs. What I am experiencing then are all the manifestations of my own fear. The greater the fear, the greater the reinforcements of that fear in the outside world. When fear is rampant, it blinds me to anything else that I might experience in that moment that would alter my perception and enable me to feel and be safe. My fear sends out a vibration that brings to me that which is, indeed, fearsome. But, if I believe fully that I create my own reality and believe that I am safe, I will be so, no matter what is going on in the outside world for others.
By the way, I have often wondered what was happening within my co-creator, the pick-pocket. The contract we made served both of us!
Explorations in Spirit with Dr. Joseph Mancini, Jr. 